A Better Way to Live
by Athena's Helm
Summary: AU. The children of the big three were raised on Olympus. Now, Chiron needs help training a large new batch of half-bloods, so Zeus sends Percy and Thalia down from the skies to help. Before long, they realize that they don't want to go home.
1. Chapter 1

**Three or four stories have been floating around with the "Percy and the Big Three kids were raised on Olympus" pattern. I liked it, and deiced to write my own twist on the theme. Naturally, some credit goes to whoever first came up with the idea. I've read so many stories like this, though, that I have no idea who did it first.**

**Completely AU. Percy, Thalia, and Bianca are sixteen. Nico is thirteen. Jennie is sixteen. There wasn't a great prophecy, and none of the children of the big three have ever been to camp half blood. They all live on Olympus. It is June 2012.**

"Hold it horizontally now, yes, good. Now knock your arrow! No! No! No, you idiot! You hold the bow horizontally while knocking the arrow!"

I rolled my eyes. Artemis was still pretty determined to teach me archery. Apollo was leaning on a nearby tree, watching us amusedly. By the look on his face, he was probably about to win some kind of bet. I felt tempted to shoot _him_ with the arrow. _So_ tempting.

"Okay now. Draw the string," Artemis instructed once I finally got an arrow knocked. I raised the bow vertically, and…

"NO! Keep it horizontal!" she practically yelled.

"But in Lord of the Rings…" I started.

"Stupid mortals know nothing of archery! Keep it horizontal as you draw the string!"

I sighed and did as she instructed.

"Now slowly turn it vertically as you draw the string the rest of the way back to your eye."

"How do I-"

"Your stance, you idiot! Left foot forward, so you can bring the string back to just behind your right eye…good…that's it…now close one eye."

Bow finally in position, I squinted and got ready to let fl-

"No! Your other eye!"

Right… duh.

I held in that position as Artemis walked a circle around me, nodding in approval at my stance and form.

"Right," she said, coming back to stand beside me. "Let fly!"

I released the string and the arrow shot out of my bow. A sickening 'thud' sounded. I glanced around, wondering who I had hit this time.

Artemis, on the other hand, was staring in awe at the target that sat forty feet down range.

I glanced at it. There was… an arrow in it! Sure, barely, but still! I hit the target!

"Tha..tha…that'll b-be a hundred d-drachmas, Apollo," Artemis stammered. Ah. So there was a bet. I glanced around and didn't see the god anywhere. He must have bailed the moment I hit the target. "Gone already, is he? Oh well, he can't hide forever," she added, smiling mischievously. Uh-oh. Poor guy.

Artemis dashed off towards the city section of Olympus, yelling over her shoulder as an afterthought, "oh, and good job, Percy. And thanks." Thanks about what? Oh, I just won her a hundred drachmas.

I chuckled slightly and strode downrange towards the target to retrieve my arrow. Not paying attention, I almost tripped right into and Iris message from Zeus.

"Prince Perseus." Ugh, I hate being called Prince. "You are summoned throne room immediately."

"On my way, Lord Zeus," I said, bowing respectfully, as the message flickered and died.

I made sure my emerald-emblazoned crown was still on my head, and walked off towards the main palace, conveniently located on the other side of Olympus. This goddamn place is practically the size of Manhattan! And with no subways or cabs!

As I walked down the main avenue, I caught a glance of the unmistakable, long wavy black hair of my favorite cousin. She was tall, maybe an inch shorter than me, and was probably the most beautiful person residing on Olympus at the moment. Or so I've heard. She's my best friend, so I don't really think of her like that.

I decided to sneak up on her, which proved to be… not the best decision of my life.

I quietly picked up my pace and snuck up behind her. I put a hand lightly on her shoulder, leaned forward towards her ear, and growled, "Thalia Grace."

I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but I soon found myself on the ground, with something rubber in my face, leaning where she had been for the last few weeks. Let's just say that the soles of her shoes were _very_ sandy.

"Heh, oops," she said, smiling. "I thought you were some creeper."

I frantically made sure my crown was still on my head, and rolled away from her. "I almost feel sorry for 'some creeper'."

She laughed and extended a hand to help me up. I accepted, and was quickly pulled into a hug. I kissed her lightly on the cheek.

'"How've ya been?" Thalia asked, pulling away and holding me at arm's length by my shoulders. "You seem taller."

"Yeah, well, I-"

"Ohh! Ohh!" squealed a high-pitched voice. I looked around, and saw a (barely clothed) woman bounding towards us. I found myself wondering why there was a slut up here. Then I realized that it was Aphrodite.

"Why is there a slut up here?" whispered Thalia, letting go of my shoulders and stepping closer to me.

"It's Aphrodite," I pointed out.

Thalia grinned. "They're not mutually exclusive." _Oh! Burn!_

I punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Don't let her hear you say that, or you might find yourself cursed. I can see the headlines now. 'Thalia Grace, madly in love with Percy Jackson. Aphrodite's involvement suspected'."

She was about to make a retort, but Aphrodite was already upon us.

"Ahh," Aphrodite cooed. I rolled my eyes, and so did Thalia. "The quasi-romantic tension between the two of you is just too _cute_! You should totally, like, start going out!"

My jaw dropped. What, was she _asking_ for Thalia to beat her up?

Thalia got her scary mad face on, and Aphrodite cowered noticeably. I don't blame her. When Thalia gets mad, it looks like lightning is about to shoot out of those electric-blue eyes of hers.

I guess the threat of electrocution was not enough to scare off Aphrodite, so Thalia hit her wrist watch. In seconds, she was holding a fully functional replica of the Aegis. Aphrodite turned on her nine-inch heels and ran away.

I whistled loudly. "And that is _exactly_ why I try to stay on your good side."

Thalia rolled her eyes as we continued walking. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that you've been my best friend for the last sixteen years, right?" she said sarcastically. I didn't even bother responding.

"Ya know, you're actually quite...uhm…what's the word…hot? Handsome?" Thalia ventured. I didn't see where she was going with this.

"You're not so bad yourself," I said. Talk about understatement. Of course, Thalia didn't really _need_ anyone to tell her she looked good. She just knew. Not in an arrogant or egotistical way. She's just a strong, confident sort of person.

I glanced over at her, and realized she was looking at me… funny. I made a disgusted face and a choking noise.

Thalia shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. We need to get you hooked up with someone. That way, Aphrodite will get off our backs."

"Oh, right. Good luck finding someone who would go out with me."

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't kidding about the hot thing, you know. Look around you. All the nymphs here are practically ogling you," she pointed out, gesturing in example at a few dryads standing around a nearby column. I looked over there. They all blushed, giggled, and looked away.

"Wonderful," I complained. "Just what I need. More stress. I absolutely stink with girls, you know that, right?"

"You seem perfectly fine around me."

"You're my best friend. That's different. I meant that I stink in a romantic sense."

"That's true…" Thalia mused.

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks for the positive support."

"Hmm… maybe we should all go take a break. A vacation would do us some good," Thalia ventured.

"We'd have to wait awhile. The Prince of Darkness still isn't back from Erebus," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What!" Thalia exclaimed. "He's been down there for _months_!"

"I know! He hasn't even sent an Iris message. He and Bianca could be dead for all I know."

We were jogging up the stairs to the palace by now, and Thalia pulled a silver tiara with a embedded sapphires out of her messenger bag and placed it on her head. It was a birthday gift from her father a few years ago to replace her old crown, and she hated wearing it despite the fact that it looked good on her.

The massive golden enchanted doors of the place swung open by themselves upon our approach. We strode into an entrance hall that must have been three hundred feet high, with a house-sized gold chandelier hanging from the roof.

"Percy! Thalia!" came a girl's voice. I vaguely recognized it…

"Wings? That you?" asked Thalia incredulously. I looked in the direction Thalia was looking, and saw a brown-haired girl in golden armor walking our way. No, that couldn't be Jennie. No way. Totally impossible.

"Sure is," Jen responded. I gawked. Wow, how long had it been…

Anyways, wondering why we call her 'wings?'

A pair of massive white-feathered wings spread out behind her back, and she made a running jump into the air, flapping a few times and gliding effortlessly to stand next to us. Daughter of Nike. Showoff. Because of the wings, she used to be allowed to leave that demigod camp every once in awhile to come up to Olympus for flying lessons from her mom. That's how we met her. The privileges were revoked a long time ago, though. Made me wonder why she was up here.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" she asked.

"Let's see…we were all ten last time we met…six years…so, yeah. Awhile," summarized Thalia.

"Your wings have gotten bigger," I observed.

"Well of course they have," Jen said irately. "_I've_ gotten bigger. And the wings are just like extra limbs."

"I meant, like, in proportion to you. Your wingspan is now twice your height, now," I elaborated.

She nodded happily. Yeah

"I still can't get used to seeing the whole flying thing, even though I hang out with your mom just about every day up here." I checked my watch. "I'm supposed to meet her and Apollo in the main arena in an hour for some dueling, actually. This meeting up here had better go quick."

"She still kicking your ass?" Jen asked.

I smirked. "We're about even now, actually."

"Though he still can't shoot worth a damn," mentioned Thalia.

"Actually," I said, as the doors to the throne room swung open, "I managed to hit the target this morning during one of my lessons with Artemis."

"You di-" started Thalia. I quickly shushed her and pointed in front of us. We had reached the throne room.

"Perseus Jackson, Thalia Grace, Prince and Princess of Olympus," announced Hermes. "Jennie Alderman, Daughter of Nike, Head of the Nike Cabin, Temporary Liaison from Camp Half Blood."

The three of us walked up to Zeus and bowed respectfully.

"Rise," he ordered. We stood.

"Ms. Alderman has conveyed a message to us from Chiron at Camp Half Blood. There has been an influx of new demigods. He has neither the time, nor the resources, nor enough experienced fighters to train them all," Zeus announced. "As such, he has requested that Prince Jackson and Princess Grace go to camp to assist in the training."

I was absolutely ecstatic. Aside from trips to Erebus, Atlantis, or the Royal Vacation Site at Montauk beach, we were almost never allowed to leave Olympus. Hell, I wasn't even allowed to meet my mom! And truth be told, I didn't really like Olympus. Nothing ever happened up here. And I mean nothing. Even the parties got boring after awhile.

It soon became difficult to resist jumping in joy. Thalia noticed, and clamped a strong hand on my right shoulder to hold me down.

"Why such an increase in newcomers?" asked Thalia. _Idiot!_ I felt like screaming. _Don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Don't look a gift horse in the _mouth_!_

Zeus sighed. "Over 12 years ago-12 years and six months to be exact, actually-what happened?"

"Uh… the turn of the century?" I guessed.

"More than that. It was the year 2000. The turn of the _millennia_," Zeus said. Now I saw where this was going.

"We had one of our largest parties ever," Zeus continued, "and Dionysus mixed a particularly…potent drink." He glared at the wine god, who shrugged. "Anyways, a lot of us got completely drunk and went out and, well, you know." I could have sworn I saw an ashamed blush tint the King God's cheeks.

"Oh," is all I could say.

"So, Alderman will show you the way down there," Zeus informed us. "Be on your best princely behavior. And try not to kill anyone. Not even the more experienced fighters there are anywhere _near_ as powerful as you two."

"When to we leave?" I asked.

_Right now_, said a familiar voice. In my head.

"Blackjack!" I cried happily. A great black Pegasus came striding into the throne room.

"Aw, now who they gonna get to clean up all that doo?" complained Ares.

"Maybe you," shot Athena.

"How's Thalia going to get there," I asked, as Jennie, Thalia, and I exited the throne room.

_I brought my girlfriend along. Meet Firestorm_, said Blackjack, pointing out the open place doors with his left wing.

I looked up. An elegant reddish brown Pegasus came swooping in through the tall double doors.

_Hello, handsome_, she said.

_Hi_, responded Blackjack.

_Not you, idiot. I was talking to the son of Poseidon. Why would I call you handsome?_ Firestorm elaborated.

I turned to Blackjack. "I thought you said she was your girlfriend."

_Well, I may have exaggera-_

_You said _WHAT_? I'm so gonna kill you, Blackjack,_ Firestorm mentally yelled.

"Ooh, rejected!" I said.

_Shut up_, responded Blackjack, dodging a swipe from Firestorm's talons.

I laughed loudly.

"Am I missing something here?" asked Thalia.

"It's complicated. But this is Firestorm," I pointed at the reddish brown Pegasus as she took another swipe at Blackjack. "She's your ride to CHB."

"Cool," said Thalia approvingly. "You go, girl!" she added, as Firestorm knocked Blackjack over with a body slam.

"Alright, that's enough," I said, helping Blackjack to his feet. "Mount your Pegasus and take to the skies." I turned to Jennie. "Can you keep up with a Pegasus?"

She flexed her wings experimentally. "It'll be tiring, but I can try."

I mounted Blackjack and made sure Thalia was securely atop Firestorm. "Good. Take it easy you two," I told the Pegasuses. Pegasi? "Don't want to leave Jennie in the dust."

_You're the boss,_ responded Blackjack.

_Okay,_ Firestorm said as we launched into the sky. _And the proper term _is _Pegasi._

**Ad there you go. Between the other fanfic I'm writing, Rule the Waves (which you should read and review), and the actual book I'm writing, I've got my hands full. I'll try to update soon, though, if you all like it. Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2: Dramatic Entrance

It wasn't far from Manhattan to the camp on Long Island, really. It was only a couple dozen miles over the towns, forests, and water before Jennie turned her head back towards us and yelled, "we have just about arrived!" over the wind.

I leaned around Blackjack's neck and looked where she was pointing. A tiny, tiny hill rose out of the ground a few miles ahead of us, surrounded by a u-shaped formation of miniature buildings and some cultivated fields. Probably a good place for a family of mice to live.

Then I remembered that we were flying a few miles above the ground.

That in mind, the hill and buildings were probably of decent size. The place was surrounded by forest, and between the buildings, pavilions, arena, and massive pointless wall in the clearing, there didn't seem to be much room for our Pegasi to land.

"Slow down a bit, Blackjack, and begin your decent," I muttered to my winged horse.

_Will do_, he thought in response. Blackjack stopped flapping his wings and began to glide slowly down towards the camp.

"Jennie!" I shouted over the slightly decreased sound of rushing wind. "Go on ahead and make sure there's enough room for us to land!"

She didn't respond, but instead tucked her wings behind her back and went into a sharp nose-dive towards the camp.

_Showoff_, complained Blackjack.

I laughed. "You're just mad 'cause you're not agile enough to do that."

_Hmph_.

"Alright, Firestorm, Blackjack! Lets land!" I said as we came closer and lower to the site. A sea of little dots- people- began to form, a clear strip of grass obviously dividing them; a runway.

_Dramatic or normal landing package?_ asked Blackjack.

"Dramatic or normal landing?" I repeated to Thalia.

"Dramatic," she said, grinning and straightening up. Of course. I shouldn't even bother asking anymore, really.

"Dramatic it is," I told Blackjack.

_Hold on to your horses, everyone_, said Blackjack as he folded his wings and steepened our decent.

_Hold on to your Pegasi, actually_, corrected Firestorm.

_Whatevs. Just hold on_.

I gripped Blackjack's neck tightly as the ground rocketed up towards us. The sea of dots became more defined, the features of the camp more prominent. A boiling pit of lava near a wall caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. The forest raced along before us, and we were just about to graze the canopy when the forest dropped out below us and gave way to a clearing.

_Aaanddd…..touchdown!_ announced Blackjack as he bent his knees to absorb the impact with the ground and proceeded to trot out the rest of his momentum. It was a good fifty feet of dashing between the rows of awestruck onlookers before he and Firestorm finally stopped.

I jumped skillfully down from Blackjack, muttering thanks, and adjusted my crown on my head, glancing over at Thalia, who was doing the same with her silver tiara.

I began to walk over to the head of the long cleared area. Thalia fell into stride beside me, somehow having managed to fix her armor, tiara, and hair in those few seconds. She looked great, as usual.

I looked left and right at the assembled people. There were at least a hundred and fifty of them, some still in their bathrobes, some dressed in armor and looking like they had just come out of sword fighting class. They were all gawking at us. I looked down at myself and realized that I was still wearing the symbolic Olympian armor, as was Thalia; its sliver sheen was likely dazzling to the people around us who were unused to all the shine and polish of Olympus.

I approached the end of the landing strip. Jennie dashed up to us, looking a little tired and red in the face.

"Nice nose dive, wings," I commented, clasping my hand and giving her a fist bump.

"Thanks. And that was a nice landing that Blackjack and Firestorm pulled off. Though you're not the type for dramatic entrances… is suppose Thalia wanted it?" she said.

Thalia grinned. "For just having seen us for the first time in six years, you sure remember a lot."

We were at the end of the runway now. People were still gawking at us, and a few were gawking at Jennie too, probably surprised that she was on such familiar terms with us strange visitors.

I heard a man in front of us give a pointed cough. I looked up.

"Chiron," I stated, nodding respectfully to the old centaur.

"It has been awhile, Prince Jackson. Though I am not certain that I recognize you, m'lady," he said, nodding to Thalia and me in turn.

"Ah, yes. This is Princess Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus. Princess Grace, this is Chiron, Trainer of Heroes, Camp Half Blood Director." announced Jennie. I raised an eyebrow, but then it struck me that by protocol, being the liaison to Olympus, she should be introducing us to Chiron.

"Well, welcome to Camp Half Blood, Princess Grace and Prince Jackson. We are honored by your attendance and assistance," Chiron announced.

"Just 'Percy' and 'Thalia' will be fine. We aren't too fond of the Olympian pomp," I corrected him.

Chiron nodded and glanced behind him as two people stepped out of the crowd to stand next to him. He pointed at a tall, pretty blonde girl on his right. "This is one of our current instructors, and head of Athena Cabin, Annabeth Chase."

Thalia and I shook her hand in turn. "You have your mother's eyes," I commented.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"

"Know her? Yeah. She and Nike are usually the ones giving me and Thalia our swordsmanship lessons."

"Well, now that we can go toe to toe with them, it's not really 'lessons' anymore," supplied Thalia.

Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise. "Who are you exac-" she started.

"And this is Charles Beckendorf, head counselor of Hephaestus Cabin, our lead craftsman," Chiron continued, gesturing at a strongly built dude on his left. The guy looked about a year or two older than Thalia and I.

I chuckled slightly as he crushed my hand in a very, very strong handshake.

"What?" he asked, in an accent that has just a tiny Slavic undertone.

"Your grip is exactly like your father's. I nearly had to go to the medical ward last time he shook my hand," I said.

"You've met him?" asked Charles in surprise.

"Of course I have, I _live_ on…" I trailed off, and turned to Chiron. "You haven't told everyone who we are yet, huh?"

Chiron shook his head. "No, I have not." He raised his voice louder. "Gather around, everyone. It is time for me to announce our esteemed guests."

Demigods shuffled and scuttled around into a half circle around us, listening intently.

"This," Chiron began, pointing at me, "is Prince Perseus Jackson. He is a son of Poseidon, and lives on Olympus. Other than some of the gods, he is the best swordsman alive right now, so I caution those of you…aggressive types," he glanced at a cluster of fierce looking kids, probably Ares Cabin, "not to challenge him to a swordfight. Rumor has it that he has even beaten Athena, Nike, and Ares upon occasion."

There were mutters from the assembled crowd. "Beat Athena?" "Huh?" "Wow." "Gods, he's hot."

Thalia decided to interrupt Chiron. "Well, now, you're making him sound so perfect." I rolled my eyes. "He can't hit the broadside of a barn with an arrow, despite twelve years of lessons from Artemis."

Instead of the mocking laughter she was obviously hoping for, this news was received with mutterings of "lessons from Artemis? Does she even talk to men?"

"Uhm…okay….and this here is Princess Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus," Chiron continued, pointing at my feisty cousin. "She's deadly with a spear, I've heard, and is not to be trifled with."

Thalia smiled brilliantly and slammed the face of her pocket watch with her fist. It opened up into a full size replica of Zeus's aegis. "There's also this," she added.

People gasped and started to back away in fear. A few shrill screams erupted from who I supposed was the Aphrodite children.

I punched her in the shoulder. "Thalia, you're scaring the children!"

She grinned evilly. "But I like scaring the children…"

"You guys are weird," observed the blonde girl, Annabeth.

Jennie sighed dejectedly. "More than you know."

"Shut up, wings," retorted Thalia.

"Pinecone face," Jennie snorted. Ah, there was an interesting story behind that one.

"Don't you _dare_," warned Thalia.

"Thalls!" taunted Jennie.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed, wings?" I asked.

"What? She lets _you_ call her tha-"

Chiron interrupted us, chuckling nervously. "You all know each other, I see?"

"Yeah. Met them during my flying lessons on Olympus about six years ago," Jen told him.

"And you never told us?" inquired the blonde girl, Annabeth.

"Their existence was sort of… confidential. Demigods weren't supposed to know. It was sort of an accident that I met them in the first place. You see-"

Chiron held up an interrupting finger. "This is neither the time nor the place for swapping stories," he straightened up and continued his announcements. "Prince Jackson and Princess Grace will be your new weapons instructors-"

I interrupted him. "Just 'Percy' and 'Thalia' will do fine."

"Yes. Right. Prince Percy and-"

"No. Just 'Percy' and 'Thalia.' No titles required," I elaborated.

"Oh… got it." Chiron took a deep breath and started over. "Percy and Prin- uh- Thalia will be your new weapons instructors. That is the reason they've been sent here. You are to treat them with the same courtesy and deference as you would any instructor or cabin head. I want everyone on their best behavior," he added, glaring at a group of particularly mischievous looking kids- Hermes children, I guessed. "Annabeth, Jennie, show them to their cabins."

People just stood there, still watching us interestedly.

"Well, off you go then," Chiron said, making a shooing motion with his hands. People began to trickle away, tearing their gazes from us. I had just about heard enough murmurs about how hot Thalia and I were, and how 'cute of a couple' we made. Why the hell does everyone assume that?

"I'll be in the big house if you need me," Chiron informed us before trotting away.

I nodded, be then realized I had no idea what the big house was. I turned to Annabeth.

"Uhm…what-" I started.

Before I finished my question, she pointed at a large farmhouse in the distance. A big house.

"How creative," muttered Thalia.

"Yes, well, it was probably named a long time ago," said Annabeth. "Now, you guys should follow me. I want to hear some stories about how you two met Jen here." She started off towards the cabins.

Jennie rolled her eyes. "Here we go…"

I grinned. "Six years ago, Thalia and I were living on Olympus. We were ten, I think, and so was Jen. Nike was mysteriously gone from the sword fighting arena for over a week, so Thalia and I went looking around the city for her. We found her in a secluded city green, and before I could ask what she was doing, a large feathery object slammed right into Thalia and me. We stumbled back, and crumpled there on the ground was a little mini-Nike."

Thalia laughed. "That was probably the most interesting introduction I'd ever had in my life. We sort of hung out for the rest of the year. I never stopped reminding her of the crash, though."

Annabeth smirked at Jennie. "Real smooth, Jen, real smooth."

Jennie held up her hands. "Well, in my defense, I was up there for flying _lessons_. Note _lessons_, as in I didn't quite have it down yet."

Annabeth glanced up at the top of my head. "You hang out with the gods a lot?"

"Yeah. The cool ones, anyways. There are some who are downright boring." I groped at the top of my head, wondering what was up there that caused her to ask that question right after she looked up. Oh, right. The crown. I took it off.

Annabeth raised a questioning eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I don't like this thing, anyways," I said, stuffing it into my messenger bag.

Thalia reached up for her silver tiara. "That's a good idea, actually."

I reached over and grabbed her arm to stop her. "Don't. It looks good on you."

She smiled. "Does it? Thanks. Maybe I'll wear it more often, then."

Annabeth looked at us quizzically. "How long have the two of you been together?"

I turned to Thalia. "What, since we were six, right? That's when you were found and brought to Olympus."

She nodded. "Ten years I've been stuck with this guy."

Annabeth frowned a bit. "Isn't that a bit young?"

"What?" I asked.

"Too young? For the whole romance thing," she elaborated.

Thalia and I simultaneously gagged on nothingness. "Why the Hades does everyone always assume we're together like _that_?"

"Yeah. I could do _way_ better than this dork," Thalia said, jerking a thumb in my direction.

"I dunno, you two just act like a couple," Annabeth explained.

I wasn't really sure how to respond to that. "Uhhh… well, it's not like we go around on dates and randomly start making out or anything."

"They're just best friends who are abnormally fond of each other," Jennie said.

Thalia grinned. "Though I'm sure I could to better than this dork in the best friend department, too."

"Oh, go jump in a lake," I muttered.

"What, so you could drown me?"

"Something like that, yeah," I said, "hey, why are we sto- cooool."

We had stopped in front of a three story bluish grey building that looked straight out of some Amerindian legend. It was covered in moss, and little waterfalls rippled down from terraced-floor to terraced-floor, pooling in marble-lined pond around each one. A wooden mast with climbing nets stood an additional twenty feet above the place, ending in an ornate crow's nest, complete with sofa and mini-fridge, at the top.

"My stop?" I guessed.

"Your stop," Jen confirmed.

Thunder crackled across the sky. Rain suddenly poured into the camp as grey clouds rolled in, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Dangit!" Annabeth cursed. "Chiron must've decided that the plants need watering tonight."

"Well, see you in the morning Thals. Great seeing you again, Jen," I pulled open my door. "Nice meeting you, Annabeth," I added as I stepped inside. As I moved to close the door, it was blocked by thee people stepping in after me, looking out the door with forlorn faces.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry. I'll keep you three dry until you get back to your cabins."

"Wait- what?" Annabeth stammered as Thalia and Jen pulled her back out the door. Then she looked up, realizing she wasn't getting wet. "Cool."

I chuckled to myself and shut the door.

The inside of the cabin was just as cool as the outside. Most of the first floor was covered in a few inches of lukewarm, crystal clear water above the marble floor. The whole place was lit in a strange glow, like the sun seen through several meters of water.

The second floor was basically a massive bedroom. This floor was under a good three feet of the same water. The spot where the stairs came up was slightly raised so that the water did not all come flooding down to the first floor. My bed was on a dry island that took up about a third of the floor.

I sighed happily and peeled off my armor and clothes, setting my messenger bag down next to me as a I laid back in my bed. It was warm and fluffy. And it felt like heaven.

*cough*

I snapped up and looked towards the offending noise. An Iris message stood before me. Nico and Bianca were looking away, shielding their eyes.

"Clothes, Percy. Clothes," choked Nico. "I don't need you getting my sister all ho-"

"Don't you _dare_ say it, Nico di Angelo!" Bianca shrieked.

"You can look now, guys," I said, having pulled a sheet over myself.

They turned back towards me. Bianca glanced around. "Wow. Where the hell are you, Percy?"

"My cabin at Camp Half-Blood," I said.

"You're kidding me! They actually let you down there? Why didn't I get the memo!" Nico complained.

"That's what you get for disappearing into Erebus and not sending anyone an iris message for three weeks!" I snapped.

"Well sorry if my dad had a new litter of hell hounds he needed taken care of," Nico defended. "And we were just messaging you to say that we'd be back in a week or so."

"Good. Now, unless you've got anything important to talk about, bye bye. I'm dog tired. I dunno why, actually. I just feel really, really drained." It was true. Every few seconds I'd feel a whole load of energy being drained from me.

"Just you wa-" Nico started.

"Yes, we'll let you get some sleep, Percy," Bianca said, slapping a hand over her brother's mouth.

"Thanks, Bianca," I said, swiping a hand through the message. As the image faded, I struggled back out of my sheets to rest atop the bed. It was hot in the room, probably because the water on the floor was being kept warm. I made a mental note to find the temperature control in the morning. I was too tired to make the effort just then.

I hadn't gotten more than a wink of sleep when a familiar voice said, "nice body, but the abs could stand a bit of work."

I growled angrily and buried myself back into the sheets. "Thalia, I'm trying to get some sleep," I muttered to the iris message of my cousin. Looking up, I noticed that she was perfectly dry, but standing with a towel wrapped around her.

"So was I," she said. "Then I decided, 'hey, might as well shower down first.' So I walked into the shower, turned on the water, and stood there for five minutes as the water just rolled off my back, not getting me wet at all."

"For gods' _sake_, Thalia," I complained. "That's why I'm so damn tired. Instead of standing in the shower like a fool, you could've _told_ me that I forgot to turn off the water-protection I placed over you three. You know that drains my energy!"

She grinned evilly. "Exactly."

I buried my face in my pillow. "Go to Hades, Thals."

"Been there, done that-"

"Bought the T-Shirt, I know," I finished.

She nodded. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if you turned the water protection off now. I want to take a shower."

"Done," I muttered.

"Good," she said, swiping a hand through the iris message, cutting the connection.

Feeling like I had a bit more energy, I scrambled back out of my sheets. "That girl's gonna kill me someday," I muttered to myself.


End file.
